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It can be difficult to select the right tools to help you develop Android apps. I've compiled a list of some of the most crucial.
Let's take a look!
8 Must-Have Android Development Tools for Building a Great App
Android Studio
Android Studio is the most important tool for modern Android development.
It has been the official integrated environment for Android development (IDE) since 2014, replacing Eclipse.
The Android developer roadmap would be incomplete if this tool were not available.
Android Studio contains many essential tools for Android development, such as:
- AVD Manager
- Android Studio dolphin
- ADB (Android debug bridge)
Android Studio is essential for anyone who wants to build a native Android app. This program provides in-depth Android knowledge, allowing developers to create the best Android apps.
It is an all-in-one tool that allows you to develop, test, and package Android apps.
Important Features
These key features make Android Studio the best IDE for Android development.
- Layout editor
Android Studio is different from other IDEs because it has a layout editor. The layout editor makes it easy to create the layout XML.
To quickly build layouts, drag UI elements directly into the visual editor. You can also quickly preview your layouts on various Android devices.
This is especially important when you use Constraint Layout, as the Layout editor in the android studio was built with ConstraintLayout.
- Fast emulator
Android Studio makes it easy to test your apps without needing physical devices.
It can be tested with the built-in emulator, which acts as an actual Android phone.
- APK analyzer
You can see the APK analysis to determine the composition of your APKs once they have been built.
This will allow you to reduce the app's size and save time when debugging issues with DEX files or other resources.
- Flexible build system
Android Studio, which uses Gradle, allows developers to create and configure different builds, making them suitable for multiple devices.
- Real-time profilers
The Android profiler provides real-time monitoring of how your app is being used. It monitors the CPU network, usage, memory, and other resources.
- Intelligent code editor
Every developer wishes they could write better code faster. Android Studio's intelligent code completion makes it possible..
Four supported languages are C++, Java, C, and Java.
Both the Pros and Cons
Pros
- Community of large size
- It is easy to learn
- Configured easily
Cons
- Devours RAM
Pricing
Android Studio's greatest advantage over other programs is its affordable price.
It is completely free to use. A paid plan does not have inaccessible features. It's all yours for free.
Let's take a look at another IDE.
IntelliJ
IntelliJ is another IDE worth considering. While Android Studio is the best IDE for Android, IntelliJ is not far behind.
It offers unique features and is undoubtedly more powerful than Android Studio.
Android Studio is built on IntelliJ. It allows users to develop Android apps quickly and efficiently.
IntelliJ IDEA attempts to automate every aspect of code generation, from boilerplate code generation to code standards we have previously established.
IntelliJ's context-aware code completion is a particularly good feature.
Important Features
These IntelliJ features set it apart from other IDEs.
- Diagrams that are useful for analysis
- Structural Search and Replace
- Navigation specific to the framework
- Refactoring across the entire project
- Diverse accessibility features
- Language injections
Both Pros and Cons
Pros
- Completion of smart code
- Accessible layout
- Efficient Git integration
- Cross-platform
Cons
- It is considered to be expensive
Pricing
To fully enjoy this IDE, you must purchase the IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate paid version.
There are two pricing options if you wish to purchase the complete version of the tool.
For Organizations
EUR 499.00 per year for a user or EUR 49.90 per month for a user
However, their All Products Pack, which includes 17 tools and 11 IDEs as well as 3 extensions and 2 profilers, will set you back EUR 649.00 per year or EUR 64.90 per month.
Individual Users
The individual plan is cheaper.
The IntelliJ Ultimate costs EUR 149.00 per year or EUR 14.90 per month, while the All Products Pack costs EUR 249.00 per year or EUR 24.90 per month.
GitHub
Even people who have never written a line of code have heard about GitHub. It is essentially a platform developers can use to track versions and code changes, and teams can collaborate.
You need to know more about Git without a platform like GitHub. Github makes it so simple that even beginner Android developers can use it.
GitHub, among other things, is a repository for your source code. This means that your project may be exposed to the public.
GitHub makes it easy to merge changes to code with the main version.
The social aspect of GitHub is frequently overlooked. It is one of the most active developer communities, with over 80,000,000 members.
View other developers' profiles and projects, while your profile can highlight your abilities. It's a great way to find talent.
Important Features
- Automated testing, CD/CI etc
- Public repositories
- Private repositories
- Github copilot
- Discussions in teams
- 2FA
- For vulnerabilities, scan the code.
- Tracking issues
Github has many features that make it easier for developers. These are just a few.
Both Pros and Cons
Pros
- Multifunctional
- in-depth documentation
- Search function for detailed results
- Many integrations with other platforms
Cons
- It could be easier to manage projects.
Pricing
Github has three pricing types.
Free plan
This plan lets you use all of GitHub's core features. Nothing is missing.
The most important features are:
- Support for the community
- 2000 CI/CD minutes per month
- 500 MB storage for packages
- Unlimited private and public repositories
You will need the next plan to gain access to more advanced features.
Team plan ($44 user/year)
This strategy promotes greater collaboration among individuals and organizations. These features are included not only in the team plan but also in the free plan.
- Support via the Internet
- Draft pull requests
- 3000 CI/CD minutes per month
- 2GB storage for packages
- Pull request approvals require reviewers
This next option is for larger businesses and organizations.
Enterprise Plan ($231 per user/year)
This plan includes everything GitHub has to offer. After you've got everything from the Team plan, these exclusive features await you in the Enterprise plan.
- Premium 24/7 support
- Automated security vulnerability fixes
- 50GB storage for packages
- Single sign-on to SAML
- Audit log API
- 50 000 CI/CD minutes per month
GitHub is an excellent android development resource for storing code and tracking progress.
Want More Information About Our Services? Talk to Our Consultants!
Postman
Postman is the most effective Android development tool for developing APIs (application programming interfaces).
It is a platform that enables developers to create, modify, and test APIs quickly.
Teams and businesses can also use it to create APIs in a virtual environment.
They must be doing something right because it is used by over 20,000,000 developers worldwide.
These are the platform's main features.
Important Features
There are many Postman features, but I won't be able to list them all. So I'll just concentrate on the most important.
- Monitoring
- Support for GraphQL
- Built-in libraries
- Collaboration workspaces
- Mock servers
- Support variable
- Information at the collection level
There are many other features, but these are the most striking.
Both pros and cons
Pros
- User friendly
- Many functionalities
- Requests for REST, SOAP and GraphQL
Cons
- Automation is lacking
Pricing
Postman has plans to meet all your development needs.
You can collaborate with up 3 users with the free plan.
This is the basic plan where Postman opens up. If you bill annually, it costs $12 per month. It costs $15 per month if it is billed monthly.
For teams of 4 or more users, the collaboration is unlimited. You also get 10 integrations, 10x calls to the Postman API, and other benefits.
Integrations can be increased to 50 with the professional plan ($29 annually and $36). Calls to Postman API increase to 100x.
This plan is more user-friendly for businesses as it permits basic permissions, roles, and private workspaces.
The Enterprise Plan is designed for larger organizations. It is only possible to pay for the entire year.
Users will be charged $99 each month.
You can have 25 domains customized, reporting and analytics, and customer success support, among other benefits.
Read More: The Ultimate Guide to Accelerate Android App Development
Charles Proxy
Charles is one of the essential tools for Android app development.
This diagnostic tool lets you see HTTP traffic between your app and the internet.
Charles can do many things, including monitoring requests and responding to them.
Charles is a great tool for Android developers and testers. They can quickly identify what could have gone wrong.
Important Features
Here are some features that make Charles an effective monitoring and debugging tool.
- Bandwidth Throttling
- Ajax
- SSL proxying
- Configure proxy settings for your browser, and your system automatically
- AMF
- W3C Validator for HTML, CSS, and RSS/atom Responses
Both pros and cons
Pros
- Simulates slower connections
- Developers save a lot of time
- Good UX
Cons
- Steady learning curve
Pricing
Charles is the right choice for price plans.
There are two types of Charles Proxy licenses you can purchase:
- User license
- Site License
Each user license costs $50 and is per computer. You get 20% off if you purchase five or more licenses. You get even more savings if you buy 10 licenses or more.
The discount goes up to 40%
Site licenses allow Charles to be used on any computer within a specific area. This is different from the user license.
A multi-site license costs $700, while the price for this site license is $400.
Both types of licenses can be used on-site or off-site.
You can also get a free trial that includes limited features.
LeakCanary
LeakCanary is the best tool for fixing Android memory leaks.
This library contains knowledge about Android and allows it to identify leaks.
LeakCanary greatly reduces crashes such as "OutOfMemoryError" or "Application not Responding".
It was introduced in Square Point of Sale's first app. It prevented 94% of OOM crashes.
LeakCanary is the ideal tool to fix memory leaks in Android development.
Important Features
Let's look at some common objects that LeakCanary detects automatically.
- Instances of destroyed fragment
- View instances of destroyed fragment
- Instances of destroyed activity
- cleared ViewModel instances
- An instance of destroyed Service
Let's now examine the pros and cons of this Android development tool.
Both pros and cons
Pros
- Open-source
- Notify immediately if there are any leaks
- It makes it simple to fix memory leaks
Cons
- There were no cons that I could find.
Pricing
LeakCanary is a free tool that you can support in any other way.
- Help us help others
- Send a pull request to send code to GitHub by forking the repository
- Answer stack overflow questions
- Feedback on pull requests
LeakCanary is a reliable Android development tool.
Shake
Shake SDK is one of the most innovative bug-reporting tools. You just need to shake your device whenever you spot a bug.
It will be reported.
This allows dev teams to save a lot of time debugging. To be exact, 20 hours per month.
This is useful for developers and QA teams who want to ship high-quality apps. They can use detailed bug reports to improve their products.
Important Features
Shake offers some amazing features like:
- Screen recording
- Create your UI
- Capture logs
- Use offline
- Real-time data visualization
- Multiple workspaces
- Integrations are free
Let's now look at the pros and cons of this helpful tool.
Both the pros and cons
Pros
- Quick
- Lightweight
- There are infinite team members
- We offer extensive customer support
- Simple setup
- Additional seats are free
Cons
- Minor improvements could be made to issue navigation.
Pricing
Shake SDK has two plans available for its users.
Free plan
The free plan includes standard bug reporting and:
- Up to 100 unique devices
- 20 events that lead to a bug
- One attachment per bug
- Maximum 2 tags per bug
- 10 bug reports per month per application
It's not bad for a free plan. Let's see what Shake has for premium users.
Premium Plan ($50 per app/month)
This plan offers a great deal for a modest price.
- Unlimited bug reports
- Unlimited tags for bugs
- You can attach up to 10 files per bug
- Complete activity history
- Up to 10 000 unique devices
There aren't many Android debugging tools that can do the same as Shake. Using it to debug and develop your Android app would be safe.
Read More: Let’S Dig Into The Basics And Understand What Android App Development Is
Wireshark
Another excellent Android development tool is Wireshark.
It's a network protocol analyzer that lets you see network traffic on any device.
Wireshark displays packet data in the most detail possible.
You can examine and analyze the packets at a microscopic scale after they have been opened.
Android developers use it to collect data and debug network protocol implementations.
Wireshark is the best tool for troubleshooting network problems and understanding their root causes.
Important Features
These Wireshark features make it an excellent network protocol analyzer for Android development.
- Captures live packet data
- Files that contain packet data from Wireshark or tcpdump, or WinDump.
- Detailed VoIP analysis
- Analyse offline
Both pros and cons
Pros
- This is a great tool for troubleshooting
- Identifies protocols
- Allows for packet sorting
Cons
- New users shouldn't be intimidated.
Pricing
Wireshark can be downloaded for free.
You can contribute to the project in many ways, however.
- GitLab allows you to suggest changes to the code
- Other free tools can be created
- Participate in conferences
This tool is offered free of charge, has no hidden features, and is extremely valuable.
Benefits of Developing Android apps for your Company
Easy to Integrate
Android apps have many advantages. They can be easily integrated into other verticals and meet specific budget requirements.
Android app development allows you to meet all of these needs. There are many verticals. Experts can help with any business integration needs by providing easy services. Android apps are easy to create, so you don't need experts.
Example- PTT Walkie Talkie app.
A Secured Platform
Android, a Linux-based platform, is secure and capable of meeting all business requirements. Experts can deliver the most efficient and cost-effective mobile app services by utilizing the platform's smooth features.
Android apps are the most secure because they do not frequently crash or have errors. You can also use its built-in security features to make your Android app a secure platform.
Quick Deployment
No matter if it's a startup or an enterprise, apps are a necessity. Therefore, every business owner today is looking for them.
Apps are a vital tool for delivering desired services to customers. An app is a great option to gain market share. With the increasing importance of apps in the market, there is no denying their importance.
You should look for the best Andrapp developmentm servicesices to get the best results. An app makes it easier to expand your business. If you want to stay ahead of the competition and grow, Android apps are the way to go.
Branding
Businesses can build brand loyalty by capturing the mind and heart share of consumers using Android mobile app development services.
Even big brands are finding it increasingly difficult to build brand loyalty in the age of social media. Android apps offer personalized and efficient customer service, enabling brands to compete in the digital age.
Eliminates Premises Cost
You can perform many of the services you offer at your business using Android mobile apps. This means you won't need to hire employees to perform these services.
An Open Source
Android apps have many advantages. Open-source is the king of app development, so they are in this category. Android is the best platform to expand your reach.
The app was built on Android, so businesses and users can access it. It is a favourite choice for entrepreneurs and experts. Apps can help you succeed if your goal is to stay ahead of the curve and be in the future.
Innovation Potential
Apart from this, Android is a source of new ideas and trends each year. Users' devices and technologies to interact and communicate with businesses also change according to their needs and behaviour.
Using battle-tested technologies and tools will give you the best chance to win. Android has rules that allow mobile Application developers to create and experiment with new apps. Example- Walkie-Talkie Applications.
Scalability and Adaptability
Android Studio has improved the OS' versatility and adaptability. Android Apps are now compatible with all future innovations, including IoT, AR and VR.
This includes tablets, mobile phones, wearables, and Android TVs. Android apps also have this advantage. The Android platform's flexibility allows developers to create dynamic, portable apps that can be used for many purposes after they are launched.
The user will find it Convenient
Android apps can be developed by business owners to make it easier to communicate with their customers. Many features are not available in desktop apps but can be provided by mobile apps.
Methodologies
Many application designers have explored the possibility of creating large-scale business applications as the Android app development industry has grown over the past few years.
Android developers are capable of creating stunning apps that meet your needs. You can even pay them to develop your app. Even though many standard systems are used by Android app development companies, they can still create amazing apps.
Two have gained immense recognition from their peers and a high standing within the industry:
- Native App Development
- Hybrid Application Development
Native App Development
The process of creating native Android apps is creating Android apps for specific platforms. Native apps are designed for specific platforms and can interact with all the applications and elements that are available on those platforms.
Because it is specific to a particular gadget, a Native app can use gadget-specific software and equipment. Native applications are better than web or cloud-based apps for Android application creation because they can use the Android App Development Platform, such as the camera, GPS, and other features.
Hybrid Application Development
A hybrid application combines several developments that can be used on different platforms. This allows organizations to connect with clients more efficiently and with less effort than if they were developing platform-based apps.
HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are just a few of the innovative technologies used to build mixed applications.
Native Android apps are thought to offer a better client experience than hybrid Android applications, which can be used anywhere.
Both strategies have their advantages and disadvantages. It can be a great discussion to determine which method to use when developing your application.
Why should you work with Cisin to hire Android app developers?
The development of mobile apps is a top priority at the moment. Apps are the best way to differentiate your business from your competitors.
They are also the key to achieving a higher ROI and helping you reach your future goals. You should work with the Best Android App Development Company to meet your needs.
Experts are the best to consult to help you avoid spending time and money on app development. We said it was unnecessary to feel pressure when looking for experts.
You should also remember that Cisin can help you create a top-quality Android app. We offer solutions for small and large companies, as well as startups. We are the right business to call if you need a company specializing in app development (Android and iOS).
Want More Information About Our Services? Talk to Our Consultants!
Wrapping It Up
Apart from the many uses of Android apps in business, there are also many other uses. You need to consider a few things before developing an Android app.
It is important to consider your customers' needs before starting app development. The business's needs, workflow, and employees' and group members' needs.
When it comes to developing Android apps, there are many businesses you can choose from. App developers can create apps using various app creation platforms or traditional app development methods.
Android app development can help businesses gain customers, increase sales, improve their brand image, and create loyal customers. It is the foundation of your business's success.
